Summer Studentship Reflection

Prior to heading into my final year as an undergraduate applied psychology student, I found a need to develop further academically to support my personal and professional development. Over the course of my two years spent studying psychology I had attained an array of qualitative and quantitative research skills; I was keen to gain practical experience and observe how these skills could be implemented in real-world research. The PPI Ignite @ UCC Summer Studentship provided the ideal opportunity to refine and develop each of these skills, whilst simultaneously facilitating the development of unforeseen, yet valuable additional skills.

I was enthusiastic to be involved in my project - the implementation of the Healthy Campus Charter and Framework in UCC, where we observed how well UCC currently fits into the Healthy Campus Charter developed by the Higher Education Authority. This charter assesses the extent to which the campus effectively takes on a holistic, whole campus approach to health and fostering an environment where everyone who frequents the university can thrive. As a team we investigated the efficacy of the university in terms of – leadership, campus environment, campus culture and communication, professional and personal development, and the provision of health services. We then considered how UCC could subsequently improve upon certain areas. I focused on campus culture and communication which provided me with the unique opportunity to consider how effectively the campus community is inclusive of all staff and students, and how effectively health information is shared with staff and students and then suggest where improvements could be made. This research was central to my time spent on the programme, although variety was consistent across the experience, as I had the opportunity to pilot new tools to assess the campus, create a presentation, attend meetings and learn how to take agendas, and collaborate with other interns and researchers across an array of disciplines.

PPI pushes you to reflect upon your approach as a researcher and consider to a far greater extent - how those at the centre by your research will actually be affected by your work, imbuing far greater meaning and practicality into the results you derive from your research. In considering PPI, and my general involvement in the programme I found my researcher reflexivity, multitasking, ability to analyse non-numerical data, awareness of ethics and critical thinking to notably improve. The development of these skills allowed me to shift from the place of uncertainty I found myself within early in the studentships to a point of confidence as the weeks progressed, as I found myself enthusiastic to contribute to meetings, share ideas, reach out to colleagues, and effectively research. I genuinely look forward to observing how the research I have been involved in becomes integrated into UCC and consider PPI in my future research.